Invisible ― Jason Grace

xvii. poor seagull

CAMILLA HAD NEVER been a big fan of thunderstorms. She'd always had a fear of heights—something Jason had tried to help her overcome with his flying abilities and surprise piggy-back rides into the sky. And she'd always been a little afraid of the dark, mostly because her overactive imagination always convinced her monsters were lurking where she couldn't see (which was usually true around sixty-percent of the time).

Now, all of those fears made perfect sense. 

Camilla was certain Jupiter would blast their plane out of the sky. Two children of Neptune were in his domain—one of whom was kept hidden from him for sixteen years. It was a recipe for complete and total disaster.

Every time the plane hit a spot of turbulence, her heart lurched, and she was sure that was it—Jupiter was going to slam-dunk them to the ground like an oversized volleyball. 

Percy wasn't doing any better than she was, which made Camilla feel a little better about her obvious terror. 

She tried to focus as Frank and Hazel talked. Hazel was reassuring Frank that he'd done everything he could for his grandmother. Frank had saved them from the Laistrygonians and gotten them out of Vancouver. He'd been incredibly brave. 

Frank kept his head down like he was ashamed to have been crying, but Camilla couldn't blame him. He'd just lost his grandmother and watched his house go up in flames. He'd earned more than a few tears after the morning he'd had. 

Camilla tried to wrap her head around the fact that Frank was her distant relative. It was crazy to learn that three-fourths of the quest were technically related, but Camilla didn't mind. There were far worse people to be related to. 

Frank refused to explain exactly what his "family gift" was, but as they flew north, Frank did tell them about his conversation with Mars the night before. He explained the prophecy Juno had issued when he was born—about his life being tied to a piece of firewood, and how he'd asked Hazel to keep it for him. 

Camilla couldn't imagine the kind of courage it had taken Frank to embark on a quest, knowing that one small flame could snuff out his life. Percy seemed to share her sentiment. 

"Frank," he said, "I'm proud to be related to you." 

"Yeah," Camilla agreed with a smile. 

Frank's ears turned red. With his head lowered, his military haircut made a sharp black arrow pointing down. "Juno has some sort of plan for us, about the Prophecy of Eight."

"Yeah," Percy grumbled. "I didn't like her as Hera. I don't like her any better as Juno."

Hazel tucked her feet underneath her. She studied Percy with her luminescent golden eyes. Camilla wondered how she was so calm. She was the youngest one on the quest, but she'd been the one holding them together. Now they were flying to Alaska, where she had died once before. They would try to free Thanatos, who might take her back to the Underworld. Yet she showed no fear. 

It made Camilla feel a little silly for being scared of airplane turbulence. 

"You're a son of Poseidon, aren't you?" Hazel asked Percy. "You are a Greek demigod." 

Percy gripped his leather necklace. "I started to remember in Portland, after the gorgon's blood. It's been coming back to me slowly since then. There's another camp—Camp Half-Blood."

"Another camp," Hazel repeated. "A Greek camp? Gods, if Octavian found out—"

"He'd declare war," Frank said. "He's always been so sure the Greeks were out there, plotting against us. He thought Percy was a spy."